Johnny O'Keefe
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Johnny O'Keefe (born John Michael O'Keefe, Sydney, January 6, 1935; died October 6, 1978) was a pioneering Australian rock and roll singer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Often referred to simply as "JOK" and nicknamed "The Wild One", O'Keefe was Australia's first bona fide rock'n'roll star. His hits include "Wild One" (1958), "Shout!" and "She's My Baby". "Wild One" was later covered by Iggy Pop in the 1980s, under its alternate title, "Real Wild Child".
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Early life
Captivated by rock'n'roll, O'Keefe began perfoming in Sydney in 1955. His breakthrough came thanks to entrepreneur Lee Gordon, who allowed O'Keefe to play as a support act on the rock'n'roll concerts Gordon staged at the Sydney Stadium. Although often greeted with hostility by audiences, O'Keefe was a highly driven and ambitious performer and after a perdio of initial resistance he began winning over local audiences with the sheer force of his personality and stage presence.
He is the uncle of Deal or No Deal presenter Andrew O'Keefe, whose father Barry O'Keefe (Johnny's older brother) is a judge and the former head of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
Musical career
According to legend O'Keefe reportedly bluffed his way into a contract with Festival Records by spreading a false story that he had already signed a contract with them; this led to Festival's A&R manager telephoning him about the story, with the result that O'Keefe was actually offered an audition and signed to the label.
Although not a great singer in the technical sense, the diminutive O'Keefe rapidly developed into a showman par excellence and he was undoubtedly one of the most dynamic rock performers to emerge from Australia. His electrifying performances in the late 1950s are legendary, and he was also noted for his (for the time) outrageous stage attire and his fondness for flashy American cars, traits he cultivated in fond imitation of his idols Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
O'Keefe was the first Australian to make the local pop music charts, the first to have a major pop-rock hit with a self-penned song, and the first Australian rock performer to have his own TV show. His success was crucial to the emergence of a struggling local recording company, Festival Records, which went on to become the most important local label of the next forty years. He also played an important role in the development of the Australian pop and rock music scene through his partnership with American-born entrepreneur Lee Gordon and together they founded the Leedon Records label, for whom The Bee Gees made their first recordings. O'Keefe was also one of the first Australian rock performers to attempt (unsuccessfully) to break into the American market.
In 1959, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the commercial-free, government network, gave him his own one-hour live TV show "Six O'Clock Rock", featuring many local artists. This was a rather daring move on the part of the usually conservative ABC, since rock and roll was still a new phenomenon in Australia and was still widely seen as subversive and degenerate form of music. Johnny also had half-hour radio show on the ABC for a while, though this was not as popular as the TV show.
Decline
Changing musical fashions saw him fall out of favour in the early Sixties, but his career was also dogged by ill-health and bad luck. He suffered recurring mental health problems (probably bipolar disorder) throughout his life. He was hospitalised on several occasions, with each breakdown luridly reported in the tabloid press.
On January 21 1960, O'Keefe's career was nearly ended by a catastrophic car crash near Kempsey in northern NSW. O'Keefe narrowly escaped death but he suffered severe cranio-facial injuries that required extensive plastic surgery and left his appearance permanently altered. It is an indication of his fierce determination that, despite the severity of his injuries, O'Keefe was back on the screen hosting "Six O'Clock Rock" within two weeks of his accident, even though his facial scars were still clearly visible. However his decision to get back to work well before he was fully recovered was one that would cost him dearly in later life.
O'Keefe was reportedly already a keen recreational drug user by the time of his accident -- he was apparently one of the first Australian rockers to take up the smoking of marijuana and his colleague Dig Richards later recounted that after the 1961 accident, he had to retrieve a large stash of cannabis from its hiding place in the hubcap of O'Keefe's pulverised Plymouth convertible. However, the combination of his injuries, his mental problems and repeated plastic surgery left him addicted to prescribed drugs.
O'Keefe's career never again reached the dizzy heights of the late 1950s, but he remained popular with fans. In the early Seventies he enjoyed a minor comeback with a version of the song "Mockingbird", although the wider success of this record was hampered by the release soon after of an almost identical version recorded by Americans James Taylor and Carly Simon. He staged a triumphant live comeback at the 1973 Sunbury Festival, where his appearance was at first greeted with derision by the young rock audience, but by the end of his set he reportedly had the crowd "eating out of his hand". He enjoyed continued popularity, mainly on the club cicuit, until his death.
Death
The cumulative effects of his health problems brought about his early death from a heart attack in 1978, aged only 43. However the death of his greatest idol Elvis Presley the previous year also affected him very deeply, and colleagues have recounted that O'Keefe became obsessed with the idea that he would be "next".